Neurocysticercosis: relationship between Taenia antigen levels in CSF and MRI

Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria

Ronaldo Abraham²  José Antonio Livramento¹  Cláudia Da Costa Leite¹  Alessandra Xavier Pardini¹  Adelaide José Vaz¹  Luís Dos Ramos Machado¹ 

[1] ,University of Taubaté Medicine Department Taubaté SP ,Brazil

关键词: central nervous system;    cerebrospinal fluid;    enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay;    magnetic resonance imaging;    neurocysticercosis;    Taenia antigens detection;    líquido cefalorraquidiano;    detecção de antígeno de Taenia;    ressonância magnética;    neurocisticercose;    ELISA;   

DOI  :  10.1590/S0004-282X2010000100003

来源: SciELO

【 摘 要 】

OBJECTIVE: To determine the relationship between Taenia antigen (TA) detection in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings in patients with definite diagnosis of neurocysticercosis (NC). METHOD: Sixty-three patients with definite diagnosis of NC were submitted to a MRI of the brain, and to a CSF examination, with a meticulous search for TA by ELISA. RESULTS: TA detection was positive in 36 patients (57.1%). A total of 836 lesions were analyzed, greatly within the cerebral parenchyma (98.7 of the lesions). Intact or non-degenerating cysts were the most common evolutive phase observed (50.4% of all lesions), 22.1% were degenerating cysts and 19.5% calcified cysts. We observed a significant relationship between TA levels detected and the total number of lesions and the number of non-degenerating cysts, but not with calcified lesions. CONCLUSION: According to our results, we propose at least four important types of contribution: (1) TA detection may allow etiologic diagnosis in transitional phases of NC, with non-characteristic images; (2) in final stages of evolution of cysticercoids in the CNS, lesions may not appear on CT or MRI, and TA detection may contribute to a definite etiologic diagnosis; (3) TA detection may permit diagnosis of NC in some patients with previous negative tests for antibody detection in CSF; (4) TA detection may represent an accurate marker of disease activity in the epileptic form of NC.

【 授权许可】

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